I grunt. “Hardly.”
“Enough questions for tonight,” he says, taking my body and tucking it beneath his as he rolls on top of me.
“I thought we weren’t having sex?” I breathe, staring at his lips.
“We’re not, we’re going to kiss until our lips hurt.”
I flush.
No complaints from me.
***
Blood explodes, landing on me as I crawl along the ground. It’s sticky and it smells awful. Tears roll down my cheeks as I try to escape it, but it just keeps coming, big, thick flows of it, falling all over me. I sob and inhale, taking some into my throat. I can’t breathe. People won’t stop screaming. I choke and choke, blood spilling from my lips.
“Help,” I scream. “Please help me!”
“No one can help you now,” he says, and I look up into his terrifying eyes. His gray hair seems so stark in the moonlight.
“No, go away. You can’t hurt me. Go away.”
He smiles. “It’s time to join Hayley. I’m in desperate need of someone with a little fight.”
“No,” I scream as his fingers curl around my arms.
More blood flows into my mouth.
“No, please.”
“Lucy!”
Someone is shaking me. I lash out, clawing, desperate to get free. “No, let me go, please!”
“It’s me, Lucy. It’s me. Calm down. You’re dreaming.”
I’m shaken again, and my eyes flow open. It takes me a few minutes to realize I’m in Heath’s arms, clutching his shirt. I’m panting and covered in sweat. I blink a few times, letting the dream slip from my mind. With every passing second, it becomes clearer where I am and who I’m with. I glance at Heath, who studies me with a concerned expression, then I turn my head and see all four men standing at his door, two of them half-naked, the others with sleep-ruffled hair.
I woke them.
“I’m,” I croak. “I’m . . .”
Shame floods my cheeks and tears well under my eyelids. I scurry out of Heath’s arms and throw myself off the bed, landing on my feet and scrambling backwards. I’m wearing only a pair of panties and a tank. Great. My cheeks burn and I rush towards the door, needing fresh air before I choke. The men part and I rush past them, my hair flowing as I run away.
“Lucy!” Heath calls.
I run to the door and burst out, letting the cool night air hit my face and wake me up. Hysterical tears threaten to explode, and I feel like a damned idiot. Those men don’t even know me and now I’m waking them all up with these nightmares that have plagued me since the attack. I rush to a patch of grass and lower down, squatting with my arms around my knees. I focus on breathing. I need to breathe.
“Hey,” Heath says, squatting down beside me. “Hey, come on honey. Come inside.”
“Just leave me, Heath,” I rasp. “Please.”
“I’m not leaving you out here alone.”
“Leave!” I scream so loudly I scare myself. An angry tear rolls down my cheek.
“No,” he says firmly. “So yell away.”
“God dammit. I don’t want you to see me like this,” I hiss, staring back at the ground.
“It’s okay, Lucy girl. Nobody cares that you’re having dreams. They’re not judging you.”
“I woke them all up. Like they don’t hate me enough already.”
“They don’t hate you.”
I shoot a glare in his direction. “They do hate me, because I’m ruining whatever little plan you’ve got going on here.”
“Come on, stop it.”
“Shit,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes closed. “Nothing is going right for me.”
“Come inside. It’s cold out here and you’re half naked.”
I glance down at my bare legs and sigh, standing. I walk back towards the warehouse and straight past the four men, who have obviously given up on sleep and are now sitting on the sofas with beers in their hands. I keep my head low as I charge back to Heath’s room.
“I have nightmares, too.”
I stop at the rugged voice, but don’t turn around. I think it’s Blake speaking, but I could be wrong.
I say nothing.
“One day, they won’t be there anymore. You just have to tell yourself that someday soon, you’re going to wake up without them.”
My bottom lip quivers, and I say a soft, “Thanks.” Then I disappear into Heath’s room.
A moment later he emerges, wearing only a pair of jeans. I hadn’t noticed before in my panic to leave. My eyes find his, and he comes and sits by me on the bed. For a while, neither of us says anything, but finally he speaks. “Get some rest; you need it. I’ll lie with you.”
“Heath?” I croak.
“Yeah?”
“Is he right? Is there going to come a day when I wake up without them?”
He reaches over and takes hold of my hand, engulfing it with his. “Yeah, baby. You just have to hang onto faith.”
“I don’t know if I believe in faith anymore.”
“Never let another person or action take away your beliefs, Lucy girl. No action, man or nature, is worth the loss of that.”
I look to him. “You can go and sit with the guys.”